BJ Shea

BJ Shea

BJ'S BLOG 12/05/13 "CANCELLING CHRISTMAS"

by BJ Shea,posted Dec 5 2013 7:32AM

I found myself relating to an idea from a recent Group Therapy email, sent by a Rock-A-Holic named Cheryl. It seems that her kids have been particularly difficult to deal with this year, and they really went off the charts on Thanksgiving…when they had a food fight during dinner!

Cheryl’s husband has had enough of this bad behavior, so he took drastic action:

He canceled Christmas.

Cheryl completely agrees with the idea that serious action is required to snap these kids back to their senses, but she feels like a full-on Christmas cancelation may be taking things a bit too far.

It’s probably a statistical fact that men -- especially fathers – will crank up the dials to 11 when it comes to an anger-driven reaction. Even if the statistics don’t agree, it’s certainly a universal truth. The male brain can go to extremes with ease, sometimes.

Is this an extreme solution? Yes, without a doubt. In this case, though, I’m still going to side with the husband, because these kids obviously need to learn that actions have consequences. As one listener suggested, Cheryl’s husband needs to stick with this punishment now; if he caves in, he’ll show the kids that he’s all talk, and no action.